Fandom Fett

I'm not sure any Star Wars character has a stronger cult following than Boba Fett. Darth Vader is probably the most iconic character, and many people profess to be fans of main characters like Han Solo and Obi-Wan, but from costumes, to apparel, to figures, to random merchandise, Fett seems to be king. Why do so many like the bounty hunter so much? Is it the cool look and gadgetry he wears? Is it the mystery behind the mask? It's not like he has many lines, and he never really kicked butt in confrontations. In fact it didn't take much to kill him off. But whatever the reason may be, fans love for the character is undeniable. He is the face of the Star Wars underworld of smugglers, bounty hunters, assassins, and other unsavory denizens.

Perhaps even though the most clever thing he accomplished in the films was locate and trail the Millennium Falcon when it attempted to escape the Empire's clutches under the guise of space garbage, maybe it's not the proof but the quiet understanding of Fett's lethal reputation that is partially responsible for his allure. But regardless of the logic behind his status among fans, I am one of many that subscribe to fandom Fett. Over the years I have collected numerous action figures, merchandise, and role-playing items, and even have created some fan art and wallpapers. Here I would like to share some of these things with you, and take you through two decades of my personal fandom.

Above are three of the first Fett action figures that were made. The one on the left is the infamous vintage Fett from the 1970s whose rocket firing capabilities were disabled for safety reasons. I wasn't around at the time, but I got this figure from my cousin who grew up playing with the vintage figures. In the middle is the first Boba figure I ever owned. It's from the Kenner Power of the Force II line that accompanied the final home video release of the original first three movies and the following release of the special editions in the 1990s. Finally on the right is the 300th figure commemorative Fett from Hasbro that came out in the early 2000s. I was really excited to get this figure as a nine year old, because it's articulation and detailing was far superior to the previous two.

Here is Boba Fett's Slave I vehicle from the Shadows of the Empire Kenner line in the late 1990s. I found this at a collectors store a few years ago. It doesn't have near the amount of interactive features as the more recent vehicles, but it still looks great with my POTF2 figure. Might I add that an OT Hasbro Slave I is long overdue.

Below are three of the more modern Hasbro Boba Fett action figures. The one on the left is from the mid 2000s, has decent articulation, and includes a built-in action feature. I caught the middle one as a repack in the 2007 Saga Legends line. I believe it is the more screen accurate Fett figure produced to date, and it has great articulation. Finally on the right is the newest sculpt that's on the shelves now. There are several versions of this one, some more accurate than others. The one I have is from the awesome Mando Evolutions three-pack. It is the only sculpt that I know of that has a removable helmet.

The three highly articulated and decently detailed figures below are based on three variant looks of the Boba Fett character. The one on the left is from the Nelvana cartoon that aired on the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special in the late 1970s. It was this cartoon that first introduced the character to the public. In the middle is based on the look of Fett in the 1980s Marvel comics. I picked this figure up in the comic pack line that included a comic book with the figure. On the right is the Ralph Mcquarrie concept Fett from the 30th anniversary Hasbro line. It comes with interchangeable heads, and a blaster that pops out of his lower torso armor.

Below are the front and reverse sides of the plastic coins that came with the 30th Anniversary Collection Holiday Special and Mcquarrie concept Fett figures.

Here are some miscellaneous Boba Fett collectibles that I have. On the left is a cut-out from the cardboard packaging of a role-play blaster from the 90s. In the center is the Boba Fett Pez dispenser. And on the right is a trading card from the recent Star Wars Galaxy series.

Below is a picture of yours truly modeling a 1990s Fett blaster and the recently released Boba helmet. Maybe one day I'll get a Boba Fett t-shirt to go with them.

These are some custom Boba Fett image edits I made with the picnik.com online image editor.

And below is a wallpaper from a series of high resolution Boba Fett wallpapers that I created with Gimp image editor and picnik.com. The other wallpapers can be found here.

With the release of the second Star Wars prequel, Attack of the Clones, in 2002, the childhood of Boba Fett was elaborated upon to mixed reactions among the fan community. I for one, have no problem with Daniel Logan's portrayal of the young clone in Episode II and the Clone Wars TV series, but some find it to detract from the mystery behind Fett's mask. Popular or not, the young Boba has provided us with a few more collectibles, and has inspired several fan art pieces on my part. Below is the first and only young Boba figure from the Attack of the Clones Hasbro line.

Here is a custom edit I did of Boba and his father Jango with picnik.com.

Here are a few collectibles I have of the Clone Wars TV series incarnation of young Boba Fett. On the corners are a trading card and dog tag that came together, and in the center is the Hasbro Boba figure from the Clone Wars line.

Below are several of my picnik.com custom edits of the Clone Wars Boba.

Finally, below are some Boba Fett related logos for the Star Wars Underworld fan community, that myself and other artists have created.

Above is the first SWU logo that I created in spring 2010.

And this one above was made by one of our Facebook admins, Jordan in summer 2010.

The golden one was created by myself to commemorate the SWU's one year anniversary.

This one above was made to celebrate Star Wars Day 2011 by our loyal fan Zac.

And finally this one is our current logo, made by our webmaster Tanner.

Well that will do it for this post. Thank you so much for reading. If you have any comments about your own experiences in Fett fandom, feel free to leave them in the comment section below or on my blog's Facebook page.